Osprey Tales

Adept at soaring and diving but not as maneuverable as other hawks, Ospreys keep to open areas, flying with stiff wing beats in a steady, rowing motion.

Primarily solitary birds, they usually roost alone.

Nesting Ospreys defend only the immediate area around their nest rather than a larger territory; they vigorously chase other Ospreys that encroach on their nesting areas.

In breeding season, males perform an aerial “sky-dance,” sometimes called “fish-flight.”

With dangling legs, often clasping a fish or nesting material in his talons, the male alternates periods of hovering with slow, shallow swoops as high as 600 feet or more above the nest site. Sustaining this display for 10 minutes or more, he utters repeated screaming calls while gradually descending in an undulating fashion to the nest.

Goodness gracious! I’ve never seen such an industrious bird. I thought Ozzie was the cream of the crop, but Jonathan is impressing me more and more, day after day. He is tireless. In addition to bringing me nest material, he’s defending our Taj Mahal from intruders and if you been watching closely he has been doing a little sky dancing too.

To quote The Doctor, “I think she’s starting to like this guy.”

Wow! Jonathan has really proved himself this week. Look at all the sticks he has brought for our nest.

http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000

I am busy arranging them so that we might have a warm and snuggly nest this year.
Not only that, we had two intruders attack, trying to take over the Taj Mahal. You should’ve seen Jonathan protecting me. Those two interlopers ended up continuing to fly North. It only took Jonathan a few hours the morning of Saturday 3/25/2017 to make it clear to them that The Taj Mahal is ours!
The Doctor tried in vain to snap a photograph of the four of us fighting. I understand this would be a difficult photograph. I thanked him anyway for trying to share this event with you all.

Channel markers are favorite osprey nesting sites.

Any place, high, safe, with a wide field of vision and plenty of fish will do:

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• Camera # 1

  http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000

• Camera # 2

  http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000

Ospreys require nest sites in open surroundings for easy approach, with a wide, sturdy base and safety from ground predators (such as raccoons).

Our nests are built of sticks and lined with bark, sod, grasses, vines, algae, or any kind of flotsam and jetsam we might fancy.

The male usually fetches most of the nesting material — sometimes breaking dead sticks off nearby trees as he flies past—and the female arranges the nest.

Nests on artificial platforms, especially in a pair’s first season, are relatively small — less than 2.5 feet in diameter and 3–6 inches deep.

After generations of adding to the nest year after year, Ospreys can end up being huge.

This will be Johnathan’s second year. It will be my sixth.

Harriett

Imagine my joy. You all knew what I was thinking:
Jonathan would not return to be with me or
Jonathan found someone else or
Jonathan would not survive the migration.
I know you are as happy as I am. Thank God. Praise the Lord.

He is in pretty good shape too; he may be tougher than I had originally thought. It doesn’t matter though. The joy and happiness of having him return is overwhelming. I wish you H. sapiens could experience this wonderful emotion. It’s not all that common in the animal kingdom. Hopefully someday you will have the opportunity to experience it.

Jonathan arrives

Here I am calling to Jonathan when I first saw him.

Here we are together

I’m home

Ok,

A lot of you are saying I am beat up and scruffy. Hey look, migrating 4000 miles is no easy task.  A certain percentage of us don’t make it each year. I will not tell you the percentage. That’s something you should look up yourself.

Sure, I look bad. I’ve lost 50% of my body weight, stored fat designed to make the trip. You have to realize this is my seventh or eighth trip north and I know the dangers and arduous nature of migration. I have escaped a lot. This is not just a bad hair day.

So, don’t give me a hard time about the way I look today. I’m home, happy to be home and wallowing in The Doctor’s embrace.

“We can do it together,” said The Doctor.

And we have, we did. We all need a companion, confidant, lover to get through this life.

The need to breed has struck me. There is nothing in nature that can stop me from migrating north and returning to my home. The Doctor simply makes it easier. Not many Osprey survive the wild for 7-8 years. We have the most wonderful relationship you can imagine. With the Doctor’s encouragement and support I am optimistic we shall have a successful breeding season this year.

Love,

Harriet

March 15th 2017
The Ides of March.
The Doctor and his female H. Sapiens looked out the window at 6:03 PM EST.

There she perched, the magnificent profile of our Raptor.
The Doctor and his Female were elated. It was a wonderful lifting of the heart.
Happiness and joy filled the Doctor’s chest.

The Doctor thought it was odd that he received no telepathic thoughts.
The Doctor focused his telepathy like a laser beam.
“Welcome home, Harriett!”
No response.
Binoculars introduced concern.
The Doctor’s camera with its telescopic lens revealed:

“That’s not Harriett,” exclaimed the Female H. Sapien.
“No, no, no,” replied The Doctor.
“That is a bald eagle if I’ve ever seen one.”
“What is he doing here?”
“I don’t know,” said The Doctor, “but Harriett is going to be really angry if it tries to usurp the Taj Mahal.”

Osprey have very few natural enemies. Unfortunately, the bald eagle is one.

How many times do I have to reassure you?
I will be there!

Every year The Doctor worries that I will not return.
Usually, just as this year, he has reconstructed, or renovated, the Taj Mahal. I can’t wait to see it this year.

• Camera # 1
http://northriverdeckcam.axiscam.net:9000

• Camera # 2
http://northriverosprey.axiscam.net:8000

My concern is, “Will Jonathan meet me there?”
Jonathan is young. I do not know how well he knows the tricks of survival.
Migration is an arduous and dangerous process.

Why do we migrate?

Because places like the tropics are too limited in space for breeding. We need lots of space when raising a family, and northern breeding grounds offer more room, food, and nesting habitats than the wintering grounds in the South.
So, we migrate from areas of low or decreasing resources to areas of high or increasing resources. The primary resource being sought is food. To survive we must migrate to a climate where the fish are more assessable.
H. Sapiens do not understand the mechanisms initiating migratory behavior. They think migration may be triggered by a combination of changes in day length, lower temperatures, and changes in food supply and/or genetic predisposition.
Ha ha. That’s funny. They haven’t figured it out yet.

Joyfully,
Harriett

So many new readers.

I feel I should introduce myself again but I hardly know where to begin.

First of all, I want you all to know that I am a bird of prey. A bird of prey is called a “Raptor”.

Somehow ten or so years ago a H. Sapiens produced a movie that depicted Raptors, especially my distant ancestor Velociraptor, in a dark light.   The truth is our role is crucial in maintaining the balance of nature.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a Raptor. In fact, I’m proud of it. We are all characterized by keen vision that allows us to detect rodents and fish during flight and by powerful talons and beaks

Here are a few other Raptors with which you may be familiar:

Bald Eagle

 Golden Eagle

Falcon                                                                                   Hawks                                                           

And several others:

• Kiteshave long wings and relatively weak legs.
• Buzzardsare medium-large raptors with robust bodies and broad wings.
• Harriersare large, slender hawk-like birds with long tails and long thin legs.
• Vulturesare carrion-eating raptors
• Owlsare variable-sized, typically night-specialized hunting birds. They fly almost silently due to their special feather structure that reduces turbulence. They have particularly acute hearing.
• Merlins the Merlin is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere
• There is even Raptor known as The Secretary Bird.
• And more.

Regards,

Harriett

Wow, I am surprised to see how many new readers we have.  Things certainly have changed since I started writing in January 2014.

In the old days, before The Doctor and I mastered telepathy, he simply left his office window open so I could slip in and use his keyboard.

One night, The Doctor was not home but his H. Sapien sweetheart was.  She was asleep in the bedroom.  I could hear her breathing. The sound was something between heavy breathing and a snore. Her breath sounds gave me confidence that she was sound asleep.

I flew in very quietly.

The H. Sapien that lives with the Doctor, in his giant nest on the bank of the North River, does not know about our arrangement.   The Doctor and I had worked the details out several months before this particular evening.

The entire giant nest was dark. Pitch black in fact, except for the bluish hue glowing from The Doctor’s computer.

“Peck, peck, click, peck, peck, click, click, space.  Click, peck, space, peck, back-peck.” Peck, tab and spellcheck.

The Doctor’s keyboard sounded too loud.

“Someone is looking at me,” I sensed.

I rotated my head with perfect composure towards the office door.

Sure enough, the big blond canine that lives there too, was staring at me.  His eyes were that of a sleepy dog.

“Shhh”… Said I.”

And obediently the big blond canine “shhh’ed”.

“You’re not the brightest bulb, are you?”.

Unperturbed, with his big brown retriever eyes unquestioning, Marley left the office and climbed back on the living room sofa, where he was not allowed.

Hardly a sound was made.

I think Marley felt happy not to get caught on the sofa, just as I was happy not caught using The Doctor’s keyboard.